My First Class

I just talked with my daughter, Sandra, and she said I MUST blog about my first class while it's still fresh in my mind. Here goes:
Of course, this has been looming in my mind since I got home on Sunday. Michael had me scheduled to teach today at 11:00 AM. I've been going over my dialogue like a mad woman to be sure that I know it. I'm sure I know it, I just wasn't sure, you know what I mean??! Anyway, I'm doing the dialogue in every spare minute, including when I'm sleeping. This morning came and I woke up around 6:00 AM. All morning I practiced the dialogue in my head. As the time drew near, I was more and more apprehensive. There were times in my life when I was supposed to do public speaking and I was so terrified that I would cancel the event. It's very scary for me, since I am one of those people who think that public speaking is next to death as a fear factor. Not only that but having to say the entire dialogue and not getting my rights and lefts confused, making sure to finish in exactly 90 minutes, remembering the order of the postures, etc.
I tried turning the lights out and sitting in quiet while doing deep breathing. I couldn't focus. I turned on the TV and "Once" was playing. It's one of my favorite movies so I thought that might calm me. It didn't. I couldn't concentrate on it.
The time to leave came and I drove to Bend and to the studio. When I arrived there were 4 people that I didn't know standing there waiting for them to open the studio. They keep it locked during class time. Yikes!!! I don't know these people. Oh man, that was scary. Then I saw Gayle, Betty and Deb. I felt better seeing them there. People kept coming in. Part of it was all my yoga friends wanted to be there to support me and I love them for that. But......a bunch of people I didn't know were there too. Then, the kicker, John walked in with his yoga mat! He wanted to surprise me and I remember thinking, "I don't know if I want him to witness this!" Coleene walked in with a vase of flowers for me. What an amazing thing to do! It ended up being a full class.
Five minutes til "show time"! I felt like I was suffocating. How was I ever going to get through all 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises!!!
Michael handed me the Madonna mike and turned it on. I walked into the room and stood on the podium, looking over all those eager faces. There were so many of them! I really never saw anyone except those who were directly in front of me.
I introduced myself and said it was my first day and I just got back from training. I got a big round of applause and that was comforting.
So, I began. First, the Pranayama breathing. It felt OK, so I got through both sets. I felt strong all the way through Awkward. Then started the "left, right postures". It's really hard, since you are facing opposite them, to figure out which is right and which is left. I bungled a few and got some rights and lefts mixed up, but managed to work my way through the standing series. Well, I hit a glitch at Tree Post/Toe Stand. I couldn't remember how that went and instead of doing Tree Pose as the first set and Toe Stand as the second set, I started doing two sets of Tree. Luckily I had Molly right in front of me, and she just kept doing it the way it was supposed to be, so I caught on and ended up doing it the right way, I think. Glancing at the clock told me I was right on time. The Savasana was great cause it gave me a chance to shut up for 2 minutes.
It surprised me how hot it was in the room. I was sweating like a pig and wasn't even practicing. I guess my nerves were practicing. The people were looking like wounded soldiers and some of them were giving me evil glances. Not the teachers and the regulars, of course, but the newer people. I suppose I was holding some of the postures a little long but I wanted to say the entire dialogue as best I could. With a little help from Molly, I finally got to Spinal Twist (a/k/a Final Spinal). That's when I knew I was going to make it ~ not before! Of course, I was elated when Blowing In Firm Pose came up, because I knew that was my last posture. I thanked them, and left the room feeling like I had just run a marathon, or maybe finished a prize fight. Whatever, I did it and I can't tell you how happy I am to have come full circle and finished my first class.
Tomorrow morning is my second class, and I hope I'll be a little more relaxed. Maybe...we'll see. At any rate, my first class is done and I'll never have to have a first class again ~ that's the main thing.